POLITICS courses through the veins of David Robinson so his defeat in this month's county council elections dealt him a heavy blow.

But the former Queen's Park High School teacher, who twice stood as Chester's parliamentary candidate and has been a political representative on local councils over 21 years, was not entirely surprised.

He knew his Overleigh division was vulnerable, with only a 2.5% swing to the Conservatives needed to oust him. His successor, Stephen Mosley, did just that.

'I think this was my 11th election and first time I had lost as the sitting councillor. I failed to win the parliamentary seat twice and I hate losing. I guess that's the sportsman in me,' said Mr Robinson, who suffered a heart attack after the 1992 election and was fitted with a defibrillator.

'I was quite disappointed, most of all because I would not be there to help people in Lache,' he said.

He said parts of the estate were categorised as the most deprived area of Cheshire in terms of life expectancy, free school meals and single parent families.

'I joined the Labour Party a long, long time ago, nearly 30 years ago, I suspect. Eventually someone says 'Do you fancy being a councillor?' so you take it on and once you do a job, you long to do it well.'

Losing office will leave a large hole in Mr Robinson's life. The cycling enthusiast was not only Labour's environment spokesman but was also chairman of Wren (the landfill tax panel), which funds environmental projects, and chaired the regional assembly's planning, environment and transport key priority group.

If he had remained in office he had wanted to promote Chester as a cycling city for tourists because of the network of cycleways it now enjoys and had an idea to set up a car pool co-operative for people needing occasional use of a vehicle.

He hopes to go back on the North West Regional Assembly in some capacity which will attract an allowance and help keep the wolf from the door. He has also been invited to go on the committee of Lache Lifelong Learning.

'I'm convinced the way of building up confidence among people is through education and I hope it will go from strength to strength,' commented Mr Robinson, who has not ruled out fighting to regain the Overleigh division in 2009.

Mr Robinson is married to Monica, a housing development officer for Muir, who is now the main breadwinner, and they have two grown-up children - Alice, 22, a performing arts student, and George, 24, a product design graduate, who scored 120 runs for Boughton Hall Cricket Club at the weekend, cheering dad up no end.

In the here and now Mr Robinson intends to take time out for himself and enjoy 'a summer of fun'.

'I'm really keen on travelling and cycling and I've got one or two relatives who want to come cycling so I'm planning a grand tour around the country,' he said.

'I'm also passionate about cricket and have got tickets for The Ashes, but that's not until August.'

Mr Robinson believes he suffered at the polls because of Tony Blair's decision to take Britain to war but believes the electorate still recognised it was better off under Labour given his party had been returned for a third term.

'I think my loss was similar to other Labour MPs who lost their seats around the country. The electorate clearly wanted a Labour government but they were sending out a warning signal.

'But the national minimum wage, Working Family Tax Credits, the investment in education and the health service - those things will continue and I do think we will stand a good chance next time.'